A system and process of printing a package of expanded material (e.g., expanded starch, foam or other expanded material). The expanded material can be heated and extruded, poured, sprayed, or otherwise applied in malleable form that sets up to become a porous protective covering for an item to be packaged. In an example, a layer of expanded material is laid down, and the item in a protective covering (e.g., a plastic bag, sleeve, coating, etc.) is positioned on the layer of expanded material. Additional layers or expanded material may be applied, thereby encasing the item. The top surface of the expanded material may be flattened, such as by operation of a roller, press, or cutter. The top surface may be sprayed with a shellac sealant, paint, or other coating, to allow printing of a label on the top surface.

A universal gripper of objects includes two elastomer membranes separating a bed of rounded tipped nails that allow for object conformation. The object is pushed into a membrane that contacts the object with a known air pressure behind an inner membrane inside the gripper. The air pressure provides conformance and maximum resolution of object curvature to the bed of nails. At least one pin guide and locking plate having flexure fingers is actuated causing a small displacement which clamps each nail in its deformed position. The air pressure on the inner membrane is now removed and afterwards, a vacuum blower is turned ON causing the object to be gripped for removal from a staging platen and moved to a position to receive an image from a printer.

There is provided a reliable printing apparatus in which a distance between a printing head and a surface to be printed is kept constant. A printing apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a printing head having a printing surface; a fixing unit connected to the printing head and having a fixing guide disposed along a first direction including the printing surface; a movable unit connected to the fixing unit, having a movable guide disposed along the first direction, and being movable with respect to the printing head along a second direction, the second direction intersecting with the first direction; a holding mechanism disposed on the movable unit and holding, along the first direction, an object to be printed that is printed by the printing head; and a vibration suppression unit disposed at an end of the movable unit and holding the object to be printed along the second direction.

A printing device, a printing machine, and a box making machine are provided with printing cylinders on which printing plates can be mounted, ink supply rolls that are placed on the upstream or downstream sides of the printing cylinders in a sheet-conveying direction and that can be in contact with the printing cylinders, ink supply units that can supply ink to the ink supply rolls, first covers that cover the upper parts of the printing cylinders in the vertical direction and that can be opened and closed, and footholds that cover the vertically upper parts of the ink supply rolls and that can be operated by an operator.

Accuracy of the quality determination is improved while suppressing a wasteful spring. An ink jet printing apparatus includes: an ejection section that ejects ink toward an object to be drawn; an imaging section that captures an image of the object to be drawn and generates a captured image; a storage section that stores determination sensitivity indicating a degree of allowing disturbance in drawing; and a quality determination section that determines quality of a drawing state drawn on the object to be drawn by the captured image based on the determination sensitivity stored in the storage section.

Drawing setting and inspection setting can be facilitated and the inspection can be easily stabilized, and thereby user convenience is enhanced. An ink jet printing apparatus includes: a drawing setting section that sets a drawing content to be drawn on an object to be drawn; a drawing data generation section that generates drawing data corresponding to the drawing content; an image inspection section that determines quality of a drawing state related to information drawn on the object; a storage section that stores information regarding inspection performance of the image inspection section; a determination section that determines whether an inspection by the image inspection section is stable based on the information regarding the inspection performance of the image inspection section stored in the storage section and the drawing content set by the drawing setting section; and a notification section that notifies a user of a determination result of the determination section.

A method is indicated for processing a web (4) that is printed with a printed image (6), wherein the web (4) is fed to a cutting/grooving unit (14) by means of which the web (4) is processed at a number of processing positions (16) in the longitudinal direction (L), wherein upstream of the cutting/grooving unit (14) the web (4) has a width (B), wherein an actual measurement (1) for the width (B) is measured, wherein the cutting/grooving unit (14) is set depending on the actual measurement (1) and a target measurement (S) for the width (B) such that the processing positions (16) are adapted to the printed image (6). A corresponding installation (2) for such processing is also indicated.

The pressure fluctuation of ink can be suppressed even with a simple structure. A print head of a drawing machine includes a first port that receives supply of ink from an ink tank, a second port that discharges ink, a pressure fluctuation adjustment section, and a third port that receives air supply to the pressure fluctuation adjustment section. The drawing machine includes an electromagnetic valve that opens and closes an air flow path for supplying air to the pressure fluctuation adjustment section via the third port. When the print head does not eject ink, the electromagnetic valve is opened to enable air to be supplied into the pressure fluctuation adjustment section.